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Victor VarnadoWed, 10 Sep 2014 11:59:08 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1Get Paid to Learn How to Draw! #lifehackhttp://www.supremerobot.com/best/2014/09/10/get-paid-to-learn-how-to-draw-lifehack/
http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2014/09/10/get-paid-to-learn-how-to-draw-lifehack/#commentsWed, 10 Sep 2014 11:57:02 +0000victorhttp://www.supremerobot.com/best/?p=865I like to learn how to do things. Recently my goal was to become a better artist. The problem is that in order to get good at something, you need to practice and motivation is a factor.

Here’s what I did to get myself on the road to drawing every day. I figured out a way to get paid for it,

“But Victor..” You ask. ”Why would someone pay you to learn to draw?”

My answer… because I don’t tell then that part. Instead I tell them that I will do a drawing for them for $5.

I joined a “gig” website called fiverr.com where you can offer services for $5. I offered to make sketches for people and as I go t better at that I started making cartoons and then storyboards.

Because I started out doing more work than people were used to getting for five dollars people kept ordering. Then I was forced to fill the orders which made me draw for an hour every day.

This is a line drawing from before I started this project.

And here is a recent one.

My honest opinion is that there are things I like about the first one and things I like about the second one, but the truth is that before I started this project I was not capable of the second one, and now I am.

Side note. On fiverr, once you get past a certain number of transactions you can charge more for your work. Which means sometimes people were paying me 50 dollars to remember to draw that day.

Of course I still have a long way to go as an artist, but I honestly believe that I wouldn’t have gotten to this point without “tricking” myself into doing the work.

I was invited to perform at a show in Brooklyn a weekend or two ago and I was startled at the number of comics that had jokes which I would flat out consider racist material.. I get that the comics themselves are not trying to be racist and that they are most likely not acting in a way in their day to day lives that would make anyone think that they are racist.

The first three comics on the show all had bits that were meant to be provocative, I guess, but were basically them doing or saying something racist and enjoying the safety of “hey this is funny because we know we are all not racist right” This includes a comic doing a joke about his “black friend”. This includes a comic doing a joke about his ethnic coworkers. This includes a kid doing a 5 minute ventriloquist bit with a KKK puppet.

I am obscuring the face of the KKK puppet comedian because my goal is not to attack him specifically. I don’t even think that he is a bad guy. (A little bit of context. The premise of the joke was that the puppet was racist and he was not.) I just think that perhaps he has been performing in a space filled with his peers who happen to be mostly the same age and exactly the same race as he is.

The audience of mostly white college age kids laughed a lot at this..

I do plenty of jokes about race, women, and homosexuality, etc. I am not trying to say that I am doing it right and they are doing it wrong. I am suggesting that they try out the simple test that I have for jokes about any specific groups.

THE RACIAL JOKE TEST
The test is “DO THAT JOKE IN FRONT OF AN AUDIENCE MOSTLY COMPRISED OF THE GROUP YOU MIGHT BE IN DANGER OF OFFENDING”. If if doesn’t fly or you don’t feel comfortable then drop that joke.

I’ve done it myself and have ended up dropping jokes, rewriting jokes and keeping some jokes. It has also helped hone my ability to make sure that the right message is getting across when I conceive of a new bit in the area of race.

To the guy with the KKK puppet with a swastika on it; I know the message I am getting from your act is not the one you are trying to put out. It IS possible that I am nuts, but considering I was one of only two black people in the room and I was offended, my reaction should concern you.

Please go to harlem and pull that puppet out and see how it goes.

]]>http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2014/09/08/859/feed/0A Quick Review of #TheChair on Starzhttp://www.supremerobot.com/best/2014/09/07/a-quick-review-of-thechair-on-starz/
http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2014/09/07/a-quick-review-of-thechair-on-starz/#commentsSun, 07 Sep 2014 18:00:26 +0000victorhttp://www.supremerobot.com/best/?p=855How can you be a filmmaker and not get sucked into the latest “watch us be filmmakers” TV show?

I actually just heard that The Chair was going to premiere on the actual day of its premiere. So on the evening of September 6th I sat down to see what was new with the Chris Moore helmed Project Greenlight-like project.

The premise in a nutshell: Take two filmmakers and give them the same script. The same budget, and the same resources and see what type of films they create.

I’m sold. I really think that it’s a solid idea for s show. I don’t know how much it appeals to those that are not in the industry, but I guess that remains to be seen.

THE SUSPICIOUS CONTESTANT
If you had a show on televisions that could help launch someone’s career and you had a best friend with a pretty wife a pretty wife who fit the bill, would you put her in your show. Well, that’s what one of the producers did.

Anna Martemucci is an NYU grad who definitely deserves to be where she is on the show but her connection to producers through here husband brings in question how she is going to be treated on the show. If the producers are smart, and I think they are, they are going to be as hard and maybe a little harder on her than they are to the other contestant. If they make the whole ordeal easier for her in any way then I would feel a bit jilted. I didn’t sign up to watch you hand off money to your best friend.

TEH DOOMED CONTESTANT
Shane Dawson is YouTube star with over 10 million subscribers. That is better ratings than many people get for their cable TV shows. Better rating that The CHair is most likely going to pull in.

The producers say that they want to see if a YouTube star can successfully make the tradition to a more substantial bit of storytelling. Within the first episode Shawn casts himself as one of the leads, in his own film and fills his screenplay with a enough poop jokes that his personal producing buddy Lauren Schnipper and Exec Producer Zachary Quinto feel that they have to ask him to tone it down.

Shane mentions that they might have a scene in his move where a homeless man eats poop. Just throwing that out there.

The way it seems that both filmmakers are reworking the script seems like the films could not be farther from one another. As part of the contest rules, they must have the same character names, so at least we will be able to tell who represents what in each movie.

It would be nice as a little extra if the y published the original script written by Dan Schoffer.

I will keep watching. Maybe others will too.

]]>http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2014/09/07/a-quick-review-of-thechair-on-starz/feed/0I Made a Cthulhu Game! You Can Play it for Free!http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2014/09/06/i-made-a-cthulhu-game-you-can-play-it-for-free/
http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2014/09/06/i-made-a-cthulhu-game-you-can-play-it-for-free/#commentsSat, 06 Sep 2014 20:11:30 +0000victorhttp://www.supremerobot.com/best/?p=850Hi there,

Recently I am have had a little bit of extra time on my hands before I started working as a story producer on this new History Channel show. I can tell you more about that when they start releasing media about the premiere, but in the meantime check this out.

When I was in high school I was really into game programming and recently I started doing a bit of it again. It is a mix of art, writing, and programming so quite a few of the things that I enjoy are wrapped up in every project.

I made this one as part of a Gameboy game Jam. The game had to have Gameboy style graphics.

PHONE CONTROLS
Drag and hold anywhere on the left side of the screen to move. (Like a game pad but it doesn’t matter where you start.) Tap anywhere on the right side of the screen to shoot.

DESKTOP CONTROLS
Arrow keys to move. Space-bar to shoot.

]]>http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2014/09/06/i-made-a-cthulhu-game-you-can-play-it-for-free/feed/0What the Heck Happened to Realm of LARP Season 2?http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2014/08/30/what-the-heck-happened-to-realm-of-larp-season-2/
http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2014/08/30/what-the-heck-happened-to-realm-of-larp-season-2/#commentsSat, 30 Aug 2014 21:20:00 +0000victorhttp://www.supremerobot.com/best/?p=848Hi there everyone… long time no post.

Many of you out there know what Realm of LARP is and if you don’t, then here is a refresher. It’s a show I created that I am really proud of.

At one point we were revving up to do a second season. I will give you the short version of what is happening now.

THE SHORT
Realm of LARP entered into a holding deal with a production company. While we were in it, I was not allowed to give out real info. We were talking to networks when the trailer for ABC’s The Quest came out. That killed momentum at the time and now all the rights have reverted back to me. I have just started talking to other companies to get season 2 off the ground, but it’s a lot of starting over with relationships.
SO WHEN IS IT HAPPENING THEN?
Like I said, now I have to get the ball rolling all over again. After fighting VERY hard to get the second season off the ground I am not going to give up. I think that, even with the The Quest , out there, that Realm of LARP is the best documentary representation of LARPing there is.

It may take a few months to begin to be able to project when the next season will take off, but it indeed will and will be more glorious than ever.

I WAS CAST IN SEASON 2. AM I STILL IN IT?
Yes, if you were contacted about season 2 then you are still in it. If you have question please email me. If you don’t have my email, then you were not cast.

————————-

I will keep you posted about what happens next. If you are feeling nostalgic, please go back and watch the first season!

I get that when you put a black guy in the cast of an action film or tv series with a bunch of tough white guys that the black guy has to be ornery. But why would you name them sugar in two projects that are out at the same time?

Like Frankie Faison who plays Sugar Bates in the Cinemax series Banshee. He’s an old tough talking dude who don’t take no shit.

Or what about Terrance Howard in the new Schwarzenegger film. He is a middle aged tough talking guy that don’t take no shit named Sugar.

Maybe these are just the same guy at different times in their lives. Wouldn’t it be great d all tough black dudes in entertainment were just playing the same character at different times in their lives? Is that what is happening?

]]>http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2014/03/04/two-black-guys-named-sugar/feed/0How To Tighten a Tiehttp://www.supremerobot.com/best/2013/12/18/how-to-tighten-a-tie/
http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2013/12/18/how-to-tighten-a-tie/#commentsWed, 18 Dec 2013 16:46:16 +0000victorhttp://www.supremerobot.com/best/?p=835Not a lot of people know about this. I do a side gig where I produce and direct “How To” videos for eHow.

The benefits are that I get to make my own schedule, it pays really well, I hone my shooting skills and I get to hire my friends to be models in some of the stuff. Right now I am trying to build up money to produce season 2 of Realm of LARP.

They give a list of titles and ask filmmakers to make pro videos around them. The thing is, sometimes the titles seem really simplistic. But I guess there are people out there that need this kind of information.

It has been a long time since I produced a live standup show. This time I am producing it with Myka Fox and Alexis Guererros. (I am not sure if I put enough R’s in his name.)

The show is at Juke Bar in NYC on 2nd ave between 12th and 13th street. It starts at 8pm.

Drink special for the entire show.

Things that have happened at other shows I have produced / hosted///

- an angry off duty police officer rushed the stage.

- a lady wrestled me.

- two people sat their naked butts in ice cream cakes.

See you tonight?

]]>http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2013/11/19/new-weekly-show-starts-tonight-nyc/feed/0Make Sure your Kickstarter project isn’t Bullsh*t.http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2013/10/10/ks/
http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2013/10/10/ks/#commentsThu, 10 Oct 2013 17:31:12 +0000victorhttp://www.supremerobot.com/best/?p=827If you are an artists, the thought of enlisting the world’s help in paying for your arty farty ideas is impossible to quell. You have no choice. at some point you are going to think” Hey, maybe Kickstarter can help.” And maybe you would be right? But if you are not Zach Braff then how are you going to make sure that people hop on board with your idea.? Huh, Zach?

I researched a lot of what is going on on Kickstarter and what I found out is that there are three basic rules for success. I will share them with you and hopefully

1.
Be a celebrity. If you are a celebrity then people will do a ton of the promotional work for you. You have to get your project in front of a lot of eyes even if you are Spike Lee, but in cases when you are Spike, and I can think of one, then others will be excited for you so they will pass the work along.

Now, If you are a star, don’t expect more than hard core fans to donate if you are not giving them something for their trouble. If you want the masses to contribute, you had better add the extra incentive of giving them something for their money. something that they might like. something that is similarly priced to how it occurs in the real world.

2.
Have an amazing gadget that feeds off of the popularity of something else that is popular. Make a watchband that holds an ipod nano. Make a tripod mount for the iphone. Those people out there that just have to have every single tech thing will jump on and send your pledges through the roof.

– I am not an inventor or a big star, so I have to rely on

3.
Make something good, and depend on yourself to promote. Also ask your friends to send around the project and hope that people can see how truly fantastic it would be to help out an independent producer doing their own thing. Hope that the community that surrounds LARP will come forward and help make the second season of something that thousands of them have already enjoted for free come to fruition.

Work hard and hope.

If you don’t do any of these things, then your Kickstarter is bullshit.

]]>http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2013/10/10/ks/feed/0The End of Graphic Novel Classhttp://www.supremerobot.com/best/2013/04/26/the-end-of-graphic-novel-class/
http://www.supremerobot.com/best/2013/04/26/the-end-of-graphic-novel-class/#commentsFri, 26 Apr 2013 18:50:23 +0000victorhttp://www.supremerobot.com/best/?p=819I had a great time at my graphic class at SVA. The goal was to finish an eight page mini comic by then of class and with a lot of pushing I finally did it. The thing that I liked the most about the class was seeing all the different styles the other people were working in. There was a woman names Vicki that had a style similar to what you might see on Adventure Time. There was another woman named anna whose every drawing really seemed like a precious work of art.

I ended up going for a style similar to a children’s book I wanted to make something that was drawn in a simplistic fun way , but showd horrible things happening.